Free Spanish Resources

Free Online Spanish Resources

by Russell Sabo

I will always recommend buying an audio course or books to help you learn Spanish, simply because they’re set up in a way to help you progress more quickly. And if they’re not, they don’t last long in the marketplace. But say you have some books and a good, quality audio course and you want to supplement your learning with some more resources and you don’t want to spend the money. Or perhaps you want to prove that, yes, you can learn anything for free on the internet. Well, then you’re going to be subjected to hours of Google searches until you find something that is worth your time.

Unless…you find a handy-dandy list of free, online, Spanish resources like this one. You’re welcome. However, I must admit that I had a lot of help, most of it through the awesome forums of the Learning Spanish Like Crazy product website. The people there are very friendly and many of them have been on the same language-learning journey that you are. As a result, they’ve already scoured the internet for very useful links to sites that provide free information, games, lessons, books, movies, and television shows, all in Spanish. From there, I’ve compiled a list of websites that I think provide the best information

Take a look around. There’s something here for every level of Spanish-learning. Enjoy!

All-Around Awesome Sites for Learning Spanish

Defense Language Institute. Reading and listening materials that come from native sources such as radio, newspapers, television reports. There are over 6000 lessons encompassing 39 languages, including Spanish. Definitely check this one out!

Confused about a word or phrase? Come here to search for it or ask about it on the forums. This is quite possible one of the biggest language-learning sites around. This listing should be in the Grammar & Vocabulary section, but I included it here because it truly is awesome.

Spanish Children’s Books & Sites

A list of children’s books that you can read online. These are actual online books and you’d be surprised at the vocabulary they throw at the 3-5 year olds. I was scrambling to find my dictionary from the first page of the first book I chose to read. Definitely check this site out!

Telenovelas & Movies

A Spanish soap opera (telenovela) that is designed to help people learn Spanish. There are 52 half-hour videos that you can watch online, or you can purchase the videos and corresponding books and other resources. The videos are very good, by the way, and the storyline is engaging.

Mi Vida Loca (My Crazy Life) is a BBC creation of a 22 episode, interactive mystery that will also help you to learn Spanish. I haven’t had the opportunity to watch all the episodes yet, but the ones I watched left me curious enough (story-wise) to want to finish this.

I already have this site listed in the Strategies section, but this page is too important not to receive its own listing. All of these listed sites are free to view their materials and they are listed by source country also.

Interested in training your ears to hear spoken Spanish and learning a LOT about culture? Radioteca is a website with many small audio lessons about a wide range of topics, from human rights, health, politics, war and peace, to news.

Language Exchange

Share your knowledge by correcting others while they do the same for your target language. In other words, make a post in the language that you’re learning (Spanish, of course) and native speakers will go ahead and correct your writing for you. Remember that you’re a native speaker of English though and there are people who need your help.

Want to speak with a native speaker online? This site sets you up with someone who speaks the language that you want to learn and, in exchange for their help, you help them with their English studies (assuming you speak English, of course).

Free Online Spanish Resources
by Russell Sabo
I will always recommend buying an audio course or books to help you learn Spanish, simply because they're set up in a way to help you progress more quickly. And if they're not, they don't last long in the marketplace. But say you have some books and a good, quality audio course and